Drexel’s Convocation to Mark the 2012-13 Academic Year

August 27, 2012

Drexel is scheduled to recognize Convocation on October 2 at 11 a.m. in the auditorium of Main Building (32nd and Chestnut Streets). Convocation communally celebrates the beginning of the academic year and all students, faculty and staff are strongly urged to attend.

Faculty are invited to join Provost Mark Greenberg for a breakfast in Behrakis Grand Hall, starting at 8 a.m. Additionally, classes will be cancelled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Main Campus to allow all members of the Drexel community to attend this important tradition.

This year, Dr. Cora B. Marrett, deputy director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), will serve as the keynote speaker. Since January 2009, Marrett has served as NSF's acting director, acting deputy director, and senior advisor, until her confirmation as deputy director in May 2011. Before her appointment as acting director, Marrett was the assistant director for education and human resources. In that role, she led NSF's mission to achieve excellence in U.S. science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels, in both formal and informal settings.

Marrett received her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University, a master’s and doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, all in sociology. She received an honorary doctorate from Wake Forest University in 1996, and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1996. In May 2011, Virginia Union University awarded Marrett an honorary degree as a distinguished alumna.

Following the keynote speaker, faculty will line up in the atrium of the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building and process to the Main Auditorium for the reception and academic showcase. Faculty may line up with their individual colleges indicated by college banners placed in the atrium.

To learn more about Convocation and how to register for any faculty and administrators participating in the procession, click here. To read more about the achievements of Dr. Cora B. Marrett, view her official biography on the NSF website here.

As the dust settles after the chaos of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday shopping season, it’s the perfect time to take a closer look at America’s consumer culture, including ‘affluenza,’ the epidemic of overconsumption. In a new course, called “Studying Consumerism,” offered by the Department of Communication in Drexel University’s College of Arts and Sciences, students—and a limited number of alumni and members of the general public—can do just that. The winter term course, which runs from Jan. 5 – March 21, will provide students with a broad overview of critical, historical and practical issues pertaining to consumerism as well as branding and marketing.